


fortune favours the bold

by 님 (nymmiah)



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Au Ra Raen Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Character Study, Family Dynamics, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Gen, Implied/Referenced Torture, Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Patch 2.0: A Realm Reborn Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nymmiah/pseuds/%EB%8B%98
Summary: In which the main character of A Realm Reborn is not, in fact, the Warrior of Light but her warrior brother who lacks both Echo and brains.A request from inkwellofstars, asking for a spin-off of the "draconic" series in which Ryuhei survives Ifrit!
Relationships: G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Original Character(s), Haurchefant Greystone/Warrior of Light
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [inkwellofstars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/inkwellofstars/gifts).



> A million and one thank yous to Jin, who requested me to basically do what I wanted to do anyway. Please enjoy this AU where Ryuhei gets to continue to coax and cajole his sister into going into way too many adventures with him!

> **2.0.0**

They were twenty-three summers old when over the tumultuous waves of the vast ocean they travelled, undulating back and forth according to the whims of the kami. Around them bustled only sailors, the other passengers upon the ship having fled below deck in a futile attempt to escape the effects of the storm through which they now travelled.

Rain pattered down upon the wooden deck, raucous and adding to the cacophony of sailors bellowing orders to one another. Ryuhei walked across the sodden deck to join Ryuuna where she stood portside, her hands tangled into ropes that hung off the railings of the ship.

If he and his sister hadn’t grown up bearing the ocean upon their backs, mayhap they would have found such motions sickening—but as it was, they were proud raen formerly of Sui-no-Sato, and no wave nor boat would cause them nausea.

His dear sister, however, kept her eye upon the horizon, her countenance pointed towards the direction from which they had departed. Kugane was not even a speck in the distance, so far had they travelled from its gilded ports, and still she looked back towards it.

He wondered: did she miss it? It was a city of rot. He couldn’t imagine how she could yearn for that place of such wanton and empty greed, that had them working day and night to earn enough coin to stay clothed and fed and warm at night. She had danced her shoes worn, and his axe was chipped to the point that a whetstone could no longer hone its edge. They were much better off upon this ship, heading to Eorzea where they would begin their lives anew as adventurers.

Rainwater dripped from the tips of her horns, her hair heavy with water clinging to her countenance and neck. She looked half-drowned with her pallour and blank eyes, though they had been rendered incapable of such a thing through the blessings of Azim. He reached out, tugging at a lock of her hair.

“What heavy thoughts have you in your head, Nana?” Ryuhei asked. “Your neck is not nearly strong enough to carry such a load. Mayhap you should stop thinking such things, whatever they may be.”

Ryuuna glanced at him, an ephemeral mirth gracing her lips in the form of a brief smile. Her eyes, a gentle brown fiercely ringed with bright orange, were no longer so distant. “You would know much about being empty of thought,” was her quiet reply, barely audible over the rain.

He snorted, reaching over to place his arm over her narrow shoulders. A moment’s hesitance was followed by her leaning against his side, slight and small though they had once been equal in height a mere seven summers past.

“You look melancholic for a place that wanted us not,” he said finally. “Were you experiencing another waking dream? Or did you like Kugane that much?”

Ryuuna was quiet for a brief span of time. She reached up to sweep her hair from her brow, futilely wiping the rain from her eyes. “Nay, I did not, to both of your questions. I was merely thinking of our home. Of Sui-no-Sato. I was thinking about how it is currently crab season, and how our elder uncle’s son Hikaku would surely be making drunken crabs.”

Ryuhei fell silent at her words.

And it was now that he finally did feel a sense of visceral guilt.

She could have returned to their home beneath the waves to escape the clutches and attention of the Garleans above on land. Her life, mayhap, would have been simpler and easier for it. However—she went where he went, dutiful and loyal she.

Her direct foil, Ryuhei was as much a coward as he was selfish. He would not return to Sui-no-Sato, for he reasoned that it would not have been the same to be there without their parents. Furthermore, with his shoulders heavy with the lives he had taken since that day their parents had departed, Ryuhei could not—vehemently _refused_ to—remain in a singular place with the spirits of those whose lives he had taken following in his wake.

He removed his arm from her shoulder and flicked hard at her elbow. She startled, crying out at the unexpected pain.

“I've always hated those crabs, and you dislike them too." He reminded. "Anyway, let us head below deck. It wouldn’t do for us to become sick on our way to Limsa,” he muttered.

She frowned up at him as she rubbed at her sore arm, but dutifully followed him as he led their way down the stairs to the cramped quarters that they shared with the other passengers.

* * *

Days and nights were passed at sea, and finally, they arrived at their destination.

If Kugane was described as a port city of gold and culture, then Limsa Lominsa was a kaleidoscopic harbour of debauchery and opportunity. She was full to the brim with buccaneers and merchants alike, and even as he stepped off the gangplank onto her white stones, he near bubbled with excitement.

They had arrived in Eorzea! A place in which he could win fortunes grand!

“Hurry up!” Ryuhei called out impatiently, turning to beckon at his sister, who seemed hesitant to step off the ship for she lingered upon the deck rather than join him upon the docks. “I can feel myself aging just waiting for you!”

“I’m coming!” Ryuuna exclaimed in response, finally making her way down the gangplank. Though shaky upon her feet after so long at sea, she, too, seemed rather buoyed by the unfamiliar sights and smells of Limsa. She looked around in wonder, her hands grasping at the hem of her own shirt in her nervousness. “It’s so busy here. Where do we even _begin_ with your… nay, our journey?” She asked faintly, eyes wide.

Ryuhei grinned, excitement buoying his heart within his chest. He hefted the axe upon his back, feeling its weight reassuring and firm against his shoulder. “The Marauders’ Guild,” he stated. “That is where.”

And so, their story began.

As with all great heroes, their nascent steps were humble. Running various errands for both Marauders’ and Adventurers’ Guilds alike over the course of six moons, Ryuhei had steadily grown their reputation as steadfast and reliable jacks-of-all-trades, capable of fetching, investigating, and fending off Sahagin, though Ryuuna remained squeamish about harming other beings. He minded this not; it meant that her hands would remain unstained and her spirit untainted by blood.

In this time, she had found a bauble most curious: a water-aspected crystal with a resplendent quality to it. She had promptly handed it over to him to decide what to do with it—and though he had been most tempted to attempt at selling it to the highest bidder, for surely there would be collectors of crystal in this land, he had stayed his hand. They were far too busy to deal with merchants and markets after all, and they had quests to fulfil.

These acts and errands had eventually culminated in his recognition by Merlwyb—and being personally selected to act as her envoy to the other nations of the Eorzean Alliance in an attempt to unify their broken nations. This, too, was followed by greater accolades and accomplishments: recruitment into an organisation most secret and ambitious that aimed to protect the entire realm from the threat of summoned gods.

The Scions of the Seventh Dawn: though he found it indubitably flattering to have been scouted out by that mysterious miqo’te Y’shtola and recognised by their leader, his sister had privately wondered at the legitimacy of the organisation.

Ryuuna had tugged him to the farthest corner of the room where they would not be overheard, and she had asked him quietly, “Can we trust this?”

“Momodi trusts them,” he had replied, “and they seem to know more than we do about your visions. It would be harmless to follow along and see where it takes us.”

As she ever did, she acquiesced with his decisions and so they had joined the Scions as vanguards against the primal threat.

* * *

Ifrit had been a close encounter with death, though they had not known it at the time. Left mostly ignorant of the true threat of primals, he had been most foolhardy as he led them to the heart of amalj'aa territory to confront their god in the Bowl of Embers.

Primals were not just seething repositories of aether and might; they were prayer given form, a parasitic and contagious set of beliefs that enraptured those lacking the Echo. They had not known this to be true until after they had met their first god.

Bubbling with magma and searing the very air with His eternal fire, Ifrit was a beast with curled horns and a venomous tongue, His wreath made of heat and His sword forged from embers.

Ifrit's miasmic presence had nearly taken him had it not been for Ryuuna and happenstance.

Ryuhei, forced to stop and brace himself against a torrent of flames that spewed from the mouth of the god, had been rendered unaware of the pressure building up from Him. Ryuuna, some distance away, had been able to feel how His aether surged.

Desperate to protect Ryuhei, she had rushed in between them--and unexpectedly, an aetheric shield had thrown itself out in front of her and halted the god from whatever attack He had been readying.

And how Ifrit had roared, His flames condensed and roiling with malicious intent! He had cursed the Echo; He had been thwarted, and His distraction had allowed Ryuhei to dart forth and to tear through His chest with his axe, and allow Ryuuna to silence His cries finally with the harried sweep of her chakrams.

From Ifrit's disintegrating corpse did Ryuuna pry another curious crystal, fire-aspected and bright. This, too, she had entrusted unto Ryuhei as they climbed out of the Bowl of Embers.

And it had been thus that they had returned from Ifrit charred and ashen but otherwise hale.

It had only been in the Waking Sands that they learnt that the god had attempted to temper him and that Ryuuna had unwittingly, somehow, prevented it though she had been unable to replicate such effects thereafter.

The Scions had been more curious as to how Ryuuna had been able to prevent Ryuhei's otherwise inevitable fate.

* * *

Such adventures continued thenceforth, but the knowledge of his mortality, especially when compared with his sister's, had ironically tempered his impulsiveness.

He had solely his axe, whereas she had the blessing of Hydaelyn upon her to keep her from primal influence.

Ryuuna had endeavoured, time and time again with another Echo-bearing man by the name of Arenvald, to recreate that barrier that she had been able to summon in opposition to Ifrit, but their attempts had resulted in naught. She could recall not how she had summoned that curious aether, and even with Arenvald's greater knowledge on the mechanics of the Echo, they were left frustrated and bereft of defense.

She continued nonetheless; Ryuhei, after all, could not protect her from primals if he could not even stand by her side in their presence.

Though she could have spent all her waking hours attempting to find success, through this time she had joined him as he continued to adventure across Eorzea, becoming part of the Maelstrom and meeting sylphs, clearing manors of spirits and preventing refugees from summoning primals. In this time too had they found Garleans, and with far too much relish had he fought them back.

Ryuhei, for all that he relished adventure and the meeting of so many different peoples, grappled with the fear that she would be unable to succeed in her attempts.

Ryuuna, for all of her fierce loyalty, was frail in body and in heart. She could not face gods alone; he refused to allow her to face gods without him.

However fear, it seemed, had a way of manifesting true when it was felt. There soon came word that the kobolds of La Noscea intended on summoning Titan and still was she unable to bring forth that shield.

"Don't you dare go, Ryuuna," Ryuhei hissed, his hand tight around her wrist.

Ryuuna, eyes wide as she was caught between Ryuhei and the part of adventurers that would set out against the primal threat, then shook her head. How like their mother she looked at that moment, resolution swiftly setting her countenance into prideful stone.

"I cannot let you keep me here," she refuted. "Not when I can do my part to keep _you_ safe."

It was not for fame and fortune that she fought. But for all her valour and values, she would break under Titan's hands, find herself entombed under the kobold god's boulders and he would be bereft once more of all he held dear.

"They can handle Him without you," Ryuhei insisted. "You are only just one woman--they will defeat Him with or without you!"

Ryuuna shook her head once more, and closed her small hand over his. "I cannot expect others to fight when I myself stay behind," she murmured softly. "I must go. And you _must_ stay."

He was rendered impotent by his lack of the Echo, unable to fend off the lethal and irreversible change caused by tempering. What use was his axe when he could do naught with it when it mattered most? He grit his teeth, tightening his grip on her wrist.

"I cannot keep you safe if you leave," he whispered, voice quiet enough that only she would be able to hear him. "You will leave me unable to fulfil our father's last wishes."

Her countenance twisted in pain both physical and not, but she remained silent, staring up at him resolutely.

Ultimately, it had taken Minfilia's hand upon his to finally cause him to let Ryuuna go, watching her stride off towards La Noscea without him.

So she had faced Titan without him, taking Arenvald and a further company of six adventurers blessed with the Echo with her. They had left eight and became four, half of their number having perished under Titan's landslides.

The quiet and brief linkpearl call after Titan's defeat had done naught to settle the fear in his heart, naught but seeing his sister in person would do that--but he could not linger long upon it.

For soon after this call had the Garleans come once more to the Waking Sands, pillaging and killing their people without mercy.

* * *

For all that he had struggled to break free from the Garleans, their sheer number had left them entirely overrun and unable to resist. It had taken Minfilia being held at gunpoint for him to finally set his arms down, fury burning fiercely within his heart as he watched Livia sas Junius march them out of the Waking Sands through the corpses of their comrades.

Their people now dead and left to rot in the desert sands, and being made into a prisoner by the Garleans with Minfilia, Papalymo, Urianger and Tataru--these events had been both terrifying and infuriating. 

Even moreso was how Biggs and Wedge had been separated from them as former Garlean citizens, and they had had no information on the two ever since. What would happen to them? What would next come? No answers were forthcoming, and the Garleans seemed to delight in the quiet horror of the Scions.

The legion to which these Garleans belonged had been that legion which had subjugated Doma, the legion that had slayed innumerable numbers of his people ere they had completely withdrawn into the safety of the Ruby Sea to never emerge into the light of day.

The impersonal steel of their magitek armour and their harsh Garlean brogue had Ryuhei flinching, ever reminded of the events that had transpired two summer's past. For all that he himself had not been present at the time of Doma's conquering, he had not been untouched by the Garlean's horror, nor did he remain unshaken when Livia sas Junius herself had stood at their forefront. Nevertheless, he had bitten upon his tongue in this time, silencing himself lest his fury render their fate worse than what awaited them.

At their head, Minfilia had taken charge of them, speaking for all of them as she attempted to bargain for their lives, to keep them from harm.

They wanted the slayer of Titan. However, none of them would betray Ryuuna's location, least of all Ryuhei. They also wished to know more of Minfilia's Echo, and were willing to do anything to learn that which they wanted. The woman, braver than he could ever be, had acquiesced to their tests, to their questions, and in return, Ryuhei and the rest had been left mostly left unmolested.

Tataru remained guarded by the three men, Minfilia staying at the forefront to bear the brunt of the Garleans; Ryuhei was utterly powerless once more.

Hateful; this entire situation was utterly repugnant and detestable. He could only count his blessings that his sister had not been at the Waking Sands when they had attacked. She would remain free, if all went well, and she would survive by herself until Ryuhei found a way to break them all free from the gaol of Garlean imprisonment.

However, the patrols remained tight, and they were ever observed by Garleans soldiers, unable to receive even a moment's privacy to allow Ryuhei to attempt to pick at the lock that held them within their cell.

And so, days passed, and Minfilia resolutely fed the Garleans as little information as possible. In as little as a sennight, the toll taken upon her had become stark in the deep-set shadows beneath her eyes and the pallour of her skin. She looked sickly though she kept her chin held high.

"What are they doing to you?" Ryuhei asked quietly one night as she stumbled back into their cell upon trembling feet.

"They are transferring us," Minfilia rasped out in lieu of answering his demands, her voice weakened as if she had been screaming endlessly. "We're being moved out of Castrum Centri, in preparation for… something I suspect to be a transfer into the Garlean motherland."

Tataru let out a gasp, her wide eyes becoming all the wider as terror set in. "Why?" She asked.

"I would suspect that they mean to bring Minfilia to specialists in the capital," Papalymo's acerbic tongue came from Tataru's side, the thaumaturge's countenance set in a disgusted expression. "As for the rest of us, lacking both Echo and primal slaying titles under our belts… well, I hardly have to tell you what they may do with us!"

Ryuhei shuddered at the thought. Gaol, servitude, or death…

"This will be our only chance left to escape. Even if… it might result in aught, once Minfilia is placed within their airships, there will be no possibility for escape beyond the obvious," he said bleakly.

Minfilia closed her eyes and she sighed. "We must hope that we shall succeed… _Gods_ …"

It rather sounded as if a poorly stifled sob.

* * *

Ryuhei dragged his feet as they were marched through the compound, finally freed from their cell and brought to another building where they would meet whatever fate would befall upon them.

He lagged behind the rest of the group, doing his best to spot one opening, any potential gap in the Castrum's defenses--but they were locked behind endless numbers of patrols and steel walls.

Ryuhei grit his teeth, watching how Minfilia resisted the soldiers' attempts to separate her from the group. Urianger, silent as ever, watched with a tense line to his jaw--and Papalymo, too, looked irate as Minfilia hissed her threats at the Garleans.

Even if Ryuhei had been able to fight past the first three platoons with his arms bound, a single alert would be enough to cause the gates to shut and to trap him within the Castrum's walls.

There would be no escaping.

Or so it seemed, until a small group of soldiers came running to their group, a magitek reaper emblazoned with garish paint and a painfully familiar form hidden poorly by Garlean colours among their number.

Her white horns would have been enough of an indicator of her identity, even if she had not immediately exclaimed his name before all others.

Biggs and Wedge moved to engage the soldiers, even as Ryuuna rushed forward with abandon. "Ryuhei!"

"Ryuuna!" Ryuhei cried out in response, eyes wide as he saw how desperately she rushed forth, hands outstretched to pull frantically at the binds that held him defenceless.

"How do these damnable things work?" His sister, glorious and harried, hissed as she dropped her chakrams to the floor to better work at the binds.

Ryuhei whipped his head to the side, staring at the bespectacled Urianger in horrified hope. "Scholar!"

There was a belated moment, but soon Urianger quietly murmured instructions into her horn. Her fingers clawed at his wrists clumsily, but he cared not for the sting of her nails. Ryuhei was fixated with the sight of Ryuuna, what skin visible both marked with battles long past and bruised as she fiddled with the magitek manages upon his wrists.

This was not the time to ask her what had happened in their time of separation, not when they had yet to successfully escape, but he yet feared to know how his sister had become so scarred.

"Got it!" Ryuuna exclaimed breathlessly, even as those manacles suddenly loosened and he could finally move his arms freely.

With his hands now free, Ryuuna pushed her chakrams into his hands, moving to then work upon Papalymo and Urianger. Ryuhei lingered not to aid her, bursting forth to join Biggs and Wedge in neutralising the Garleans.

His sister's chakrams ill-fitted his hands, but he knew enough about their use to put the few remaining soldiers down.

Frustration and his former impotence lent to him a greater strength than he otherwise should have. He cleaved a man in twain, grinning in vindictive triumph at being able to take vengeance, however shallow it was.

Fire crackled and a carbuncle darted past him soon after--Urianger and Papalymo were free then!

With the magitek reaper alongside the three of them, the soldiers could last not against their barrage of attacks. Ryuhei grabbed an axe from one of the fallen soldiers, passing Ryuuna her chakrams when she came to his side.

She smiled up at him with radiance bought by joy, and he reached over to knock the pot helm from her head. It tumbled to the floor, and he mulishly kicked it away, making her laugh with levity. She looked far more like his sister without that Garlean mask covering her countenance.

"Let's get out of here," he murmured softly, and she inclined her head.

"Quick--we have to go before it's too late," Papalymo exclaimed much louder, looking around with a frown upon his face.

An alarum began to sound, and they all nodded.

* * *

Their escape from Castrum Centri had bought them momentary respite--but as with all things, they soon found themselves in the midst of danger once more.

It had turned out that in his absence, she had had to fight yet another primal without him, and had emerged victorious despite having fought Garuda on her lonesome.

His sister, it seemed, had become far more fierce without him to protect her.

They had also discovered Cid nan Garlond in Ul'dah and that Thancred had been abducted by an Ascian, but both facts were far less important to Ryuhei than the knowledge that his sister would soon be sent on a mission to stand against the Garleans once more.

The primal threat against Eorzea had culminated into a wretched Garlean plan to use their collective power in something called the Ultima weapon.

Gaius van Baelsar issued his ultimatum, calling for the surrender of all Eorzean territories lest they use this Ultima against them. In response, the Alliance had tasked the Scions, and specifically, Ryuuna to lead the assault on both Castrum Meridianum and the Praetorium.

Why did it have to be Ryuuna? It left Ryuhei rather sick of adventuring, left him hateful of their situation.

He had never imagined that within two summers of leaving Kugane, they would have experienced all of this. No amount of fame nor fortune could justify the sheer danger that Ryuuna was constantly facing.

He had brought them to Eorzea in the hopes of beginning a new life where they would no longer be tied by their purse strings, and free to pursue what they wished.

This was not freedom as he had envisioned it.

Freedom was not an endless fight from daybreak to the death of the night, nor was it the licking of flames as Ascian and Garlean came hand in hand to bring destruction to Eorzea.

* * *

The air smelt of cloying, clogging ceruleum; suffocatingly powerful and oily, clinging to his skin and coating his mouth and nose and throat with its overwhelming taste.

Nero, Gaius--and finally Ultima, empowered by the three primals of Eorzea's beasts tribes.

Arenvald stood by their side as they watched how the Mother Crystal's Blessing crumbled around them, the last of Hydaelyn's power spent on weakening the Ultima weapon enough that they could survive its destructive outpour of energy.

"--Stay strong," Ryuuna whispered, trembling as they watched the Ascian wearing Thancred's body smile viciously and fade into the aether. She clutched at her chest, swaying due to some unknown weakness. "We cannot lose this fight, no matter what."

Ryuhei hefted his axe upon his tired shoulder, and he inclined his head. Arenvald, too, nodded, his sword drawn and ready at his side.

"For Eorzea?" Arenvald suggested with a faint smile, a weak attempt at levity.

Ryuhei snorted. "Nay. We fight for those we love, and for those we aim to protect," he corrected, eyes affixed upon the Ultima weapon before him. "For our friends and those we have come to know in our lives."

"... Aye. Those are much better causes to fight for," Arenvald agreed finally, softly. "For those we hold dear, we shall win."

Ryuhei drew in a deep breath, filling his lungs with the scent of ash and oil. To his side, Ryuuna nervously twirled her chakrams. She glanced up at him, and she lowered her chin in determination.

"So let's get started with winning already," she murmured, and with her momentary bravado, she darted forth before Ryuhei could.

Arenvald barked out a startled laugh, running after her towards the gargantuan weapon--and Ryuhei refused to be the sole member of their party to remain stationary. He, too, moved forth, intent on exacting what vengeance he could from Baelsar and his damnable weapon.

Echo or not, he would do this part in keeping Eorzea safe.

* * *

"All things said and done, I think that didn't end entirely disastrously," Ryuuna murmured softly.

"I would have phrased it differently," Ryuhei replied with a snort, rolling his head to the side to look over at her.

His shoulders yet ached from how arduous their battles had been, and he was most unwilling to do anything more than retrieving a glass of water whenever necessary. In sheer contrast to his exertion-caused laziness, his sister continued to bustle around the room, preoccupying herself with examining their armour and weapons.

"How, then, would you phrase things?" She asked. Her words were almost covered by the sound of her scraping dirt from the plates of his armour, the rasp of a rag against metal.

He continued: "We did bloody _amazing_ . Destroying the Ultima weapon? Somehow freeing Thancred from that Ascian? Kicking Garlean ass all across Eorzea? You've also been named the godsdamned _Warrior of Light_ , sister mine. You should be proud of yourself."

Rather than laugh, his sister shook her head. She came to his side where he lay upon the floor and sat herself down. His breastplate remained in her hands, though she set it upon the floor before herself. She tucked her legs beneath herself, smoothing out her skirts as she did so. She looked most uncomfortable, her fingers wringing at the cloth she had just used to oil his armour.

"I didn't want this title," she murmured.

He reached over to grab a spike upon her tail, tweaking it enough to make her frown. "You have it regardless, Nana. But if you want to leave Eorzea and escape such attention, then we shall. Regardless of our obligations to the Scions."

Ryuuna pulled her tail out of his grasp, tucking it against her side where he could not pull at it. She was silent for a moment, her countenance melancholic. "It should have been yours, not mine," she murmured softly.

Ryuhei paused here.

"Nana?"

"You wanted to come here for adventures and fame," she continued, her lips set into a frown. "And I have taken it from you. I have the Echo that should have been yours, your title and your fame."

Ryuhei blinked, taken utterly aback by her words. "Wait--did you think I wanted to come here for _adventures_ alone?"

"What else am I to think?" She asked him simply.

He sat up, ignoring the ache in his back as he stared at her with wide eyes. For a long while, he looked at her, no words coming to mind.

"... Kugane was rotting us," he said finally. "I didn't want us to stay in a place that would leave us hollow inside. You've always been the reason why I had us leave."

"But--fortune? You've always wanted to amass gil," Ryuuna exclaimed in confusion.

Ryuhei shook his head. "I wanted enough to buy us land, to have ourselves a place to call home once more. You've seen how ridiculously expensive housing is, even in Gridania."

Ryuuna looked at him with wide eyes, and he frowned back at her.

"So yes, if you wanted to leave Eorzea, we will leave." Ryuhei reached out, placing his hand upon her crown and ruffling her hair. "Just say the word, Nana."

She was silent for quite some time.

"Thank you, Ryuhei," she murmured softly.

Ryuhei continued to frown ere he finally lay back down, shuffling himself closer to set his head upon her knee. Her hand came down upon his head, gently pushing the locks back.

He closed his eyes, sighing as she nudged him up to tug more folds of her skirt beneath his head to serve as a softer pillow.

And they were both silent for quite some time, her hand warm upon his crown and lethargy causing him to drowse off.

* * *

Three sennights after, they were found standing side by side in Wineport, watching Alisaie stride off purposefully.

Ryuuna was quiet, her eyes fixed upon the Leveilleur's back.

"Is it too late to say that I am unwilling to return to Castrum Occidens?" She asked faintly. "I… am rather reluctant to find what awaits us within."

He smirked. "Probably. The girl seems to be far more mouthy than her brother--an accomplishment, that. You'd never hear the end of it from her."

Rather pitifully, Ryuuna looked up at him. Her lips were pulled into frown, and she then, very careful to enunciate, stated, "I am saying the word."

It took quite some time for him to understand what she meant, but when he did, Ryuhei snorted.

"Well? Come on. Let us at least see what it is that required the girl to ask us both to accompany her before we quit this continent," he remarked, gesturing his sister to follow him as he finally made to follow after Alisaie's footsteps.

Ever loyal, his sister followed him, though she let out a weary sigh. "If we find yet another Allagan monstrosity of a weapon in the Castrum..." She said, trailing off meaningfully.

Ryuhei rolled his eyes as her dramatics. "I'm sure we won't."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I had to put in something relatively shippy as a freebie.

> **2.1.1**

“Have you ever considered how phallic the tower is? You have to wonder if the person who designed it was trying their utmost to compensate for something.” Ryuhei remarked offhandedly, staring up at the Crystal Tower where it rose above even the mountainous cliffs of Mor Dhona, lonesome and bright against the gloom.

To his side, his sister let out a sound that was caught in between a gasp and a startled laugh. He sent her a grin, which she returned with an expression most unamused, but the gleam in her eyes told him all he needed to know about her true thoughts upon his comments.

“It is not our place to wonder such things,” she replied firmly. “Leave such ponderings to the historians, won’t you, Ryuhei?"

To her other side, the arrogant Sharlayan miqo'te let out a scoff.

"The Crystal Tower is the culmination of Allagan ingenuity and technology," G'raha stated. "It is not merely _phallic_ , but I doubt you would appreciate its grand history."

Ryuhei snickered. "So you think it looks cock-shaped too, huh?"

The miqo'te sent him a wide eyed stare filled with great offense. Even his tail had bristled twice its original size, and the diminutive archer strode up to him, face reddening in irritation. "What? No! I didn't say that!"

"Ah, but you most certainly did," Ryuhei retorted with a smirk. "It isn't _merely_ phallic, did you not say?"

As expected, his question had been enough to incite the miqo'te into greater anger. He verged upon shaking with fury, though he seemed disinclined to educate Ryuhei on exactly what he was misunderstanding about the tower they were to eventually study.

Instead, G'raha dismissed himself from their presence with a kindly farewell towards Ryuuna and a contemptuous glance towards Ryuhei.

In return, Ryuhei sent him a cheery wave which was summarily ignored.

Ryuuna glanced up at him as the miqo'te strode off, a little smile playing upon her lips. "Don't tug on his hair too much, Heihei. We aren't children anymore, and I doubt such strategies would work.."

Ryuhei grinned, eyes fixed upon the swaying of G'raha's tail. "Oh, what would you know about men, Nana? It'll work out, just you see."

> **2.1.2**

Ryuhei found no faults in his sister save for one: her awful taste in men and women.

Ryuuna had ever been easy to sway into affection, often losing her heart to a small word of kindness and a warm smile. Most times, such affection had resulted in aught--but this time, it seemed that seeds had been sowed and had germinated.

He grimaced off to the side as he watched her quietly stare after the elezen lord as if he were Azim incarnate, her eyes wide and doe-like. It was rather sickening how enraptured she was by the man.

The elezen lord now flounced off to call various housekeepers to ready rooms for them at Camp Dragonhead, leaving the twins alone for the first time since they had arrived.

"Really?" He quietly asked her, arms cross over his chest. "An _Ishgardian_?"

They had both experienced the reticence and cruelty of their peoples, predisposed to stand against the twins for their appearances alone.

This particular lord, or knight, or whatever he was, seemed to lack the haughty xenophobia of the other Ishgardians he had met, but the surface face of man could hide any manner of darkness behind it. This smiling bastard was surely attempting some form of deception.

If this was truly the result of his absence from her life as a figure of reason, he would ever endeavour not to be abducted by Garleans henceforth.

Ryuuna ducked her head, chastised but evidently unrepentant, for she apologised not and had her lips set into a stubborn line. "He is a good man, Ryuhei. He has helped me far more than he had to while you were yet captured by the Garleans. We would not have found the _Enterprise_ without his help..."

"Oh, don't tell me. He probably smiled at you and you were instantly infatuated," Ryuhei said in disgust. "Need I remind you of Kino--?"

"You see me not finding fault in you when _your_ eye is caught by some passing miqo'te," Ryuuna interrupted with a frown. "Shall I pass judgement when I again catch you leering at Y'shtola? Or I shall perhaps say a few words when we next meet G'raha!"

Ryuhei could feel the back of his neck heat up at her words. "Nay, that is _unnecessary_ ," he was quick to exclaim, even as Ryuuna's frown turned into a devilish smile.

"Mayhap I shall regardless!" She said with not a small amount of relish. "I'm sure with how keen his ears are, he shall hear my words and you may finally learn for yourself the extent of his thoughts of you!"

"You--!" Ryuhei growled, lunging for her, even as she let out a shriek and darted away.

When the elezen lord returned to his office, it was to the sight of Ryuuna breathless with laughter as Ryuhei held her high above the ground by her ankle and shook her vigorously.

They froze, staring at each other before turning their gazes towards the elezen.

Ryuuna was red from the rush of blood to her head, and she began to hit Ryuhei's thigh with her palm to get him to set her down. Ryuhei, however, raised her all the higher.

"Put me down!" Ryuuna cried in her sudden embarrassment.

Haurchefant's brows had risen, but a smile was evident on his lips. "Shall I return in a few moments?" He asked lightly.

"Please do. The Warrior of Light is still preoccupied," Ryuhei remarked just as lightly, as if he were not holding his sister with an increasingly precarious grip as her boot began to slide off and his grasp turned tenuous.

It was fortunate for Ryuuna that the elezen had closed the door behind him just moments ere Ryuhei had dropped her unceremoniously to the floor.

She sent him a glare most venomous as she got to her feet, hands moving to fix her hair and straighten her clothing once more. "I am _most certainly_ telling G'raha about your merits--and lack thereof!"

**Author's Note:**

> Winks and shamelessly promotes the Azem fanzine, The Sun's Journey, that I'm modding @ [FFXIVAzemZine](https://twitter.com/FFXIVAzemZine). Applications are closed, but please await future news!
> 
> I'm also found on Twitter @ [nymmiah](https://twitter.com/nymmiah), where I occasionally upload sketches and ideas.


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